What I’m watching: a superhero epic and a great documentaryDate: 5/3/2018 What I’m watching: a superhero blockbuster and a great documentary about an extraordinary person.
In Theaters: Avengers Infinity War
Or should I write “Avengers Infinity War, Part One?”
That’s one of the rubs of this newest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Although some people who keep up with such matters knew that Marvel/Disney was intending in presenting this story in two parts, it was not marketed as such and there were groans as the last scene unfolded from the audience with which I saw the film.
What has made the whole MCU experience unique is the concept that all of the Marvel films – with the exception of the those properties not in the company’s control – such as X-Men, Deadpool, The Fantastic Four and, for a while, Spiderman – is their stories interlocked to a certain degree with plot elements building from one film to another.
In many ways the MCU films constitute the most expensive serial ever made.
This meant that for people watching the second or third film in a series they may need to do some catching up to thoroughly understand what was going on. To appreciate this latest film, that’s sort of what is necessary. This should not be your entry point into the MCU.
In several films, starting I believe with the first Avengers movie, audiences have been told that a villain named Thanos has designs on conquering the universe. You see there are a number of power stones that if he is able to collect all of them will give complete dominance over everything, including reality and time.
The script and Josh Brolin, who plays Thanos, present the villain in the classic manner: we know he is evil, but he believes he is actually benevolent and undertakes his plan in a sincere belief he is helping people.
In his case, he believes if he eliminates half of the universe’s population, the other half can live with adequate resources and in peace.
Once his plan is revealed the heroes of the MCU band together – sort-of, as they are a dysfunctional lot – to stop Thanos get the Infinity Stones and become essentially a god.
As is the hallmark of the MCU, the heroes have many human failings, especially in one of their leaders, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., is essentially a guy who hasn’t learned how to corral his ego despite the experiences he has had. He still makes decisions that aren’t the best and he hasn’t learned how to work with others very well.
In this case, it just isn’t how he behaves with the rest of the Avengers (Captain America, The Vision, the Scarlet Witch, The Black Widow, War Machine, Thor and the Hulk), it is now with Dr. Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Black Panther.
That’s right, everyone is in this movie, which reminded this old horror buff of the Universal monsters movies of the mid-1940s when several featured all of the classic monsters.
It’s the goal of this review to tell you enough about the film without offering any spoilers. My assessment is simple: they should have marketed this as a two-parter and there are moments in the action where an obvious plot choice is ignored in order to prolong the story to its two and half-hour running time.
Believe it or not all of the heroes get adequate screen time and the film has expert editing to accommodate the film’s story that takes place in multiple locations. The CGI is as expert as usual and there is enough humor to lighten the increasingly dark story.
I have enjoyed the MCU movies that were about more than just heroes and villains fighting one another. My essential problem with this film is I’m not getting much more from it other than one big slugfest, which is not resolved in a satisfactory manner for my taste.
Yes, I know this is going to be a minority opinion.
On streaming and DVD: Dealt
“Dealt” is a wonderful multi-layered documentary about Richard Turner, who is described by some people as a card magician, but he prefers the term “card mechanic.”
In other words, Turner is able to make a deck of cards bend to his will in tricks that defy explanation.
As a magic buff, I found his story fascinating, but there is a whole lot more to this film than just a profile of an accomplished magician. Turner developed an eye illness as a child that robbed him of most of his sight and eventually all of it.
His story is dominated by how he reacted to his medical condition. Turner rejected the notion that he should be treated differently and did not even want to be described as blind. He spent most of his life hiding his condition as best as he could.
His experience is contrasted with that of his sister who also had the same disease but lost her eyesight completely much earlier than her brother. She has embraced the technology available to her to be as independent as possible, while her brother has relied on his wife and son to be his eyes in many instances.
Turner wanted his work rather than his condition to inspire people and this film captures an extraordinary person with a compelling message. Director and co-writer Luke Korem does an exceptional job in balancing both sides of this story.
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